The shape of the lesson
By the end of the lesson, learners can
- Tour the system: Move out from the Sun past the rocky planets, the asteroid belt and the gas giants.
- Rocky in, giants out: The inner planets are small and rocky, the outer ones large gas giants, with a belt of asteroids between.
- Order: Mercury to Neptune.
- Types: inner rocky, outer gas giants.
- Speeds: nearer the Sun, faster.
One picture every idea returns to
The Solar System contains the Sun and the objects orbiting it: eight planets, with the four inner ones small and rocky and the four outer ones large gas giants, plus moons, asteroids in a belt between Mars and Jupiter, and comets on long elliptical orbits.
Forty-five minutes, phase by phase
| Time | Phase | What happens in the room | Grouping |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 to 5 min | Hook: predict | Open with the question in the title, The Sun and its family.. Around one ordinary star wheels a whole household: four small rocky worlds close in, four giants of gas further out, a belt of rubble between them, and comets that swing in from the cold and back out again. | Whole class, then pairs |
| 5 to 17 min | Teach and check: Tour the system | Move out from the Sun past the rocky planets, the asteroid belt and the gas giants. Project tab 1 of the lab (The Solar System) and let a student drive it while the class predicts. | Whole class, then pairs |
| 17 to 30 min | Teach and check: Rocky in, giants out | The inner planets are small and rocky, the outer ones large gas giants, with a belt of asteroids between. | Anticipation / Reaction Guide |
| 30 to 36 min | Check | The four Stage 1 questions from the student lesson, answered on mini whiteboards or by show of fingers. Re-teach the one most get wrong. | Individual, then whole class |
| 36 to 43 min | Plenary | The exam-style questions from Stage 2, one at a time: thirty seconds alone, then a random call. The feedback lines in the key give the examiner's wording. | Individual, random call |
| 43 to 45 min | Exit and homework | Set the worksheet below (6 questions, 11 marks). Learners self-assess against the objectives before they leave. | Individual |
Protect the parts that carry the learning
The sequence carries about fifty minutes of material, so the lab is driven by one student while the class predicts rather than explored freely. Times are a guide.
Protected: the check at 30 minutes. It is the only individual read on whether the key idea landed, and it is not cut.
Cut first if the build overruns: the last check in Rocky in, giants out, never the check or the plenary.
In a 60 minute block: run worksheet questions 1 to 3 in class as a Rally Coach set and model both the hardest worked example and its check live.
Anticipation / Reaction Guide
Before the lesson, students mark five statements true or false. After the teaching they mark them again and justify any change of mind in one sentence each. The statements come from the examiner traps below.
The full structure, with its variations and the other twelve, is on the cooperative-learning page.
What to head off, and how
| Trap learners fall into | Teaching move that pre-empts it |
|---|---|
| The asteroid belt lies between Mars and Jupiter, separating the rocky inner planets from the gas giants. | Comets, unlike planets, follow very long, highly elliptical orbits rather than near-circular ones. |
The Solar System: worksheet
6 questions, 11 marks. Written in the style of the papers; no past paper question is reproduced.
Name the eight planets of the Solar System in order from the Sun.
State which planets are rocky and which are gas giants.
State where the asteroid belt is found, and describe the shape of a comet's orbit.
Explain why Neptune takes much longer to orbit the Sun than the Earth does.
State the difference between a planet and a moon.
The planets do not all orbit the Sun at the same speed. State which orbit fastest and explain why.
Answer key and marking notes
- Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars. ✓
- Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. ✓
- The four inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars) are rocky. ✓
- The four outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) are gas giants. ✓
- The asteroid belt is between Mars and Jupiter. ✓
- A comet has a very elliptical (stretched) orbit. ✓
- Neptune is much further from the Sun, where the Sun's gravity is weaker. ✓
- It orbits more slowly and has a much longer path, so its year is far longer. ✓
A planet orbits the Sun, while a moon orbits a planet. ✓
- The planets closest to the Sun orbit fastest. ✓
- The Sun's gravitational pull is stronger closer in, so they move faster. ✓
4 multiple-choice questions on this lesson
From the topic question bank. Assign them in the app for a marked score in your gradebook, or run the topic as a class game.
Which list gives the planets in the correct order, starting nearest the Sun?
- AMercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
- BVenus, Mercury, Earth, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus
- CEarth, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
- DMercury, Earth, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Saturn, Neptune
How do the inner planets differ from the outer planets of the Solar System?
- AThe inner planets are small and rocky; the outer planets are large and gaseous.
- BThe inner planets are large gas giants; the outer planets are small and rocky.
- CAll the planets are the same size and made of rock.
- DThe outer planets are closer together than the inner planets.
What is a comet?
- Aa lump of ice and dust in a very elongated orbit around the Sun
- Ba small rocky planet between Mars and Jupiter
- Ca star that is burning out
- Da natural satellite of the Earth
Where are most of the asteroids in the Solar System found?
- Ain a belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
- Bbetween the Earth and the Moon
- Cin a ring around Saturn only
- Dinside the orbit of Mercury
Quiz key
The order outward is Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. The other lists swap neighbouring planets out of order.
The four inner planets (Mercury to Mars) are small and rocky, while the four outer planets (Jupiter to Neptune) are large and made mostly of gas and ice. The description is reversed in option B.
A comet is a body of ice and dust travelling in a highly elliptical orbit around the Sun; near the Sun it forms a tail that always points away from the Sun. A rocky body between Mars and Jupiter is an asteroid.
Most asteroids orbit the Sun in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Saturn's rings are made of ice and rock but are not the main asteroid region.
What to project
The student lesson embeds these tabs. Open them full screen on the projector; every slider has a drag handle on the stage.
Slides for this lesson
A projectable deck for every pack is on the way. Until then, present the student lesson full screen: its sections, figure and lab tabs follow the same order as the plan above.